Ian Cullen
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

George Ian Cullen (20 October 1939 – 12 November 2019) was a British actor. Cullen first became interested in acting when appearing in a pantomime aged four (late 1943). He trained at
RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...
with a scholarship when he was 16. An early television appearance was as David Balfour in the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's 1963 adaptation of
Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...
's '' Kidnapped'', set in Scotland in 1751. Balfour is captured while on board a ship, and here he meets Jacobite rebel Alan Breck Stewart with whom he forges an alliance, escaping to the Scottish Highlands while trying to avoid the redcoats. All twelve episodes are believed missing from the archive. Another notable early television appearance was in 1964 when he played Ixta in the four-part ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' story '' The Aztecs''. He was interviewed for that serial's DVD release in 2002. In 2012, he returned to ''Doctor Who'' to play Nadeyan in the Big Finish audio drama "Dark Eyes". Cullen had numerous roles in British film and television, including regular roles in '' Emergency Ward 10'' during its final year (as Warren Kent – 1966–1967), ''
Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...
'' (as Joe Skinner – 1969–1975), ''
When the Boat Comes In ''When the Boat Comes In'' is a British television period drama produced by the BBC between 8 January 1976 and 21 April 1981. Across the whole series, events are set in the time period from 1919 to 1937. The series stars James Bolam as Jack Fo ...
'' (as Geordie Watson - 1977–1981) and Channel 5's soap opera ''
Family Affairs ''Family Affairs'' is a British soap opera that aired on Channel 5. It debuted on 30 March 1997, the day of the launch of said channel and was the first programme broadcast on the channel. It was screened as five thirty-minute episodes per w ...
'' (as Angus Hart – 1997–1999). He has guest starred in numerous television dramas, including ''
The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...
'', '' Dalziel & Pascoe'' and '' Sorry!''. In 2011, he starred as Baron Sterling in the award-winning feature film '' Dawn of the Dragonslayer''. When joining the cast of '' Z Cars'' in 1969 he became a household name. By this time this popular series was broadcast in a twice-weekly 25-minute format. His character Joe Skinner stayed for six years and a total of 226 episodes. The occasionally troubled Skinner enjoyed popularity with the viewing public, being promoted and un-promoted along the way to and from Detective. In the character's final '' Z Cars'' appearance "Distance" (Series 9, Episode 28), Skinner was gunned down in the line of duty. The death of any policeman in real life or fiction was still uncommon in the 1970s and this moment became one of TV's biggest dramatic shocks of the decade.. After Z Cars, Cullen wrote some episodes of the popular ITV children's series The Paper Lads (1977–78). It was not the only time Cullen played a character with an untimely ending. His character Angus Hart, was the original lead of the Channel 5
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
''Family Affairs'', appearing in over 400 episodes. Angus Hart was killed in a shock storyline when the entire Hart family were killed in a boat explosion. Cullen's stage work was extensive and saw him perform all over the country, with eight West-End productions to his name and two years with the
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...
. He won rave reviews for his performance as Jay in ''Road to the Sea'' at the Orange Tree Theatre, in 2003. In 2008 he won a Gold Award for his narration of the feature-length documentary The Destiny of Britain (2007). As well as his acting commitments, Cullen also wrote several television series, films and
radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3  hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
plays. He found time to run a very successful youth drama group in Surrey (Surrey Heath Young Actors Company) for nearly 30 years. He was assisted in this venture by his wife Yvonne Quenet, who is also an actress and drama teacher. They were married for over 30 years and had three daughters.


Selected TV and filmography

*''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' - Ixta ('' The Aztecs'', 1964) *'' Department S'' - Special Branch agent (The Bones of Byrom Blain, 1970) *''
Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...
'' PC/DC Joe Skinner – (226 episodes, 1969–1975) *''
Voyage of the Damned ''Voyage of the Damned'' is a 1976 drama (film and television), drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, with an Ensemble cast, all-star cast featuring Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Max von Sydow, James Mason, Lynne Frederick and Malco ...
'' – Radio Officer Steinman (1976) *''
When the Boat Comes In ''When the Boat Comes In'' is a British television period drama produced by the BBC between 8 January 1976 and 21 April 1981. Across the whole series, events are set in the time period from 1919 to 1937. The series stars James Bolam as Jack Fo ...
'' – Geordie Watson (4 episodes, 1977–1981) *'' The Gambling Man'' (1995) – Paddy Connor *''
Family Affairs ''Family Affairs'' is a British soap opera that aired on Channel 5. It debuted on 30 March 1997, the day of the launch of said channel and was the first programme broadcast on the channel. It was screened as five thirty-minute episodes per w ...
'' – Angus Hart (400+ Episodes, 1997–1999) *'' Gabriel & Me'' – Ridley (2001) *''Dawn of the Dragonslayer'' – Baron Sterling (2011) *''White Oak'' – Johnny (2018)


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Ian 1939 births 2019 deaths Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art English male film actors English male television actors People from The Boldons Male actors from Tyne and Wear Male actors from County Durham Actors from the Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside